‘Reallocating resources’: McDonald’s insider warns you’ll soon lose free refills

A McDonald's expert weighed in on the news that McDonald's will be phasing out drink stations inside of its restaurants—in part to clamp down on those who want free refills on sodas.

The discussion comes from Chef Mike Haracz (@chefmikeharacz), a former McDonald's corporate chef whose account is dedicated to demystifying the Golden Arches. He often answers questions about the fast food chain based on his extensive experience working there, and in this case, he's keying off a report from last fall about the proposed changes to McDonald's dining rooms.

"They said not only due to reallocating resources—so having more of the crew behind the counter making food, dealing with drive-thru consumers—they said due to theft, due to having to clean that station and whatnot, that they would be removing it," Haracz said in the viral clip, which has accumulated 158,400 views as of publication.

A Today article from last September noted, "McDonald's is transitioning away from self-serve beverage stations in dining rooms across the U.S. by the year 2032. The chain says the change is intended to create a consistent experience for both McDonald's workers and their customers at all ordering points — meaning that whether you order your Big Mac Meal via McDelivery, the app, kiosk, drive-thru or in-restaurant, you'll get your grub the same exact way."

Haracz added, "Most of McDonald's business is through the drive-thru. And it does cost McDonald's more money to deal with people who come into the restaurant than it does drive-thru. They'd much rather you have drive-thru, you get some food, you get your drink, and you get out of there versus you hanging around and having to deal with people in the restaurant."

However, Haracz also noted that people are telling him they've recently asked for free refills in a McDonald's and have been refused.

The Today article, conversely, quoted one franchise manager who said the right to a free refill would still be protected, adding, "Free refills are a big draw for people. I don't see anything taking that away."

@chefmikeharacz Former #mcdonalds corporate chef talks about them removing free refills! #McdonaldsLife #McDonaldsTikTok #mcdonaldssecrets #McDonaldsSecret #food #tiktokfood #foodfestontiktok #foodtiktok #mcdonaldsccsing #fastfood #FastFoodSecrets #fastfoodlife #FastFoodTikTok ♬ original sound - Chef Mike Haracz

Some commenters expressed cynicism over the decision.

One quipped, "I'm still looking for the McDonald's where they clean the drink station."

Another said, "I think the worst sign of greed at a company is when they make you pay for things that were once free, especially if the quality lowers."

Someone else reminisced, "I remember when going to McDonald's was a fun event with the play spaces. Now they don't even want you there long enough for a refill."

Haracz, responding to the Daily Dot's question about seeing missing drink stations in the wild, said, "I have seen a few with the machines removed, but I have seen plenty of social media posts of people showing them removed."

He also noted that the profit from drinks at McDonald's is considerable. "Fountain drinks are high profit drivers. In some instances the cup itself costs more than the beverage."

He also expressed concern about the customer service aspects of the move. "From an employee allocation perspective, having crew spend less time cleaning and maintaining the lobby and more time in the kitchen does make some sense," he observed. "But in some cases that isn’t putting the customer first. In a short staffed restaurant, it will help produce food and process orders faster but there will be a drop in restaurant cleanliness."

The Daily Dot has reached out to McDonald's via email.

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